Just as "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" was a massive evolution of the long-running, celebrated "Legend of Zelda" franchise, "Super Mario Odyssey" appears poised to challenge and evolve the "Super Mario" formula.
"Super Mario Odyssey" is an open-world, nonlinear game starring Mario. That means you're not running from a beginning point to, say, a flagpole. We're talking big open worlds that are packed with details: secret areas to find, puzzles to solve, and — bizarrely — even some old-school 2D Mario thrown in for good measure. Seriously!
This is an area you enter, and play, in "Super Mario Odyssey":
Instead of reaching an endpoint, your goal in "Super Mario Odyssey" is to collect moons, of which there are many in each world. Based on the too-brief time I spent with it back in June, the closest comparison I have is to "Super Mario 64." It's too early to call it, and there are a dozen other incredible looking games that are coming out on multiple platforms, but "Super Mario Odyssey" looks like the game to get this holiday season.
Check out our hands-on with the game right here.
Release date: October 27